Wha's up?

I am finishing reading "Ahab's Wife" so this picture seems rather appropriate. Another book which is a tour de force. An author taking a character from an old book (Moby Dick) and breathing life into him in a new dimension. That is what I love so much about the Laurie R. King books about Sherlock Holmes. It is a very difficult job, and one which is done admirably in the Ahab book. Of course, I adore the Laurie R. King books the most.

It is the time of year to be watching tennis. Wimbledon is at it again. Tomorrow I will watch at 10 am. I don't have cable so it is great that they are showing it on one of the regular network stations (NBC).

There are no American men in the men's side of things, but the Williams sisters are still on the women's side. Time will tell how it goes.

Take care and have a nice 4th of July week.

Why?

I have been pondering why a person writes a blog. There are probably as many reasons as there are bloggers... or a combination of reasons.

It would seem to be to communicate your thoughts to others. I think it is a little bit of that, but also the mere fun of expression. To have a place to mull over things. I love it. Hmmm?

I had the thrill last night to have a phone call from a relative I had not spoken to for a couple of years. She had looked at my blog and wanted to contact me about my paintings. I hadn't thought much about that aspect of my blog, but she said almost 100 people had perused my paintings. Wow. She remembered way back when I was first married and she was a little girl and George had given me oil paints and I was doing a painting of the little barn in the back of my in-laws' house. What memories. She was amazed at the evolution of my paintings - as well she might be! Anyway, it was great to hear from her.

I will have to ask Naomi to show me how to add paintings to the Flicker deal. I have not been able to figure it out on my own.

The weather is finally HOT. Wahoo. Take care.

Where to start?

I have so much news I don't know where to start.

As to ears: They have been adjusted to try to keep the loud treble sounds from sending me into orbit. So far so good. With the fans on I do hear lots of background noise, but that is probably unavoidable. The ear guy is going fishing next week, so it will be two weeks until i go back to get it adjusted again. Seems to be going well, though. I should say 'hi' to his mom who is reading this blog. Your son is great.

As to dog: We will soon be taking him back to his mistress. She is back from Spain after an horrendous trip. They got stuck in Newark airport because of bad weather so she had to begin teaching immediately after they finally got here. I am sure she is rather discombobulated with the drastic change. I'll see her soon and get a full report.

As to eyes: My glasses are pinching my nose. I keep thinking I will get "toughened in," but it doesn't seem to be working that way. Sigh. I can watch television without glasses, so I will try to give my nose a rest.

KW and I went out to lunch on Tuesday to celebrate our birthdays. We went to Clara's Place on the outskirts of Alexandria. It is a place that has all kinds of stuff for sale in Clara's Barn, and then a little luncheon place. It is on a country lake with the concomitant peaceful view. We love it. Check it out. It's on the way to the Winery.

KW let me off at Cherry Street Books in downtown Alex. I love that place. The outside of it is darling, and the inside is filled with books (surprise, surprise!) and other colorful stuff. I wallowed around reading a bit here and there in this book and then that book. Paradise. When George was done with his errands he stopped in and picked me up for the ride home.

Take care and keep in touch!

"Ye that have ears...."

I took my new ears out for a test drive today. It's amazing the things you hear that you didn't know were making noise. For example, the keys on this keyboard are clicking away when i always thought they were silent! The car is much more noise-filled as well, and I can hear the floor creak under my feet in the kitchen. George reading the newspaper and shaking it to get it to suit his desires is so loud it almost makes me want to cry out in pain!

I took my new ears to the gym today and they seemed to be ok. I am quite a gal now with new eyes and new ears. Wahoo. Several of the gals oooohed and aaaahed at how small and inconspicuous they are. So far, I am very pleased. Time will tell.

I will be the most parsimonious of people for the next year as I will be paying for this miraculous acquisition of hearing. The aids are not inexpensive, but I believe they will be well worth their cost. As time goes on, I will continue to report to you. My equilibrium also seems to be better.

Take care.

Walking Poles

At this moment, this is the matriarch of our tribe. We should all be so active! Naomi uses this type of walking stick in Spain, so perhaps she will be just as frisky when she gets to this age! Wahoo. Way to go! The walking in Montana is either up a hill or down a hill, so the sticks really help.

I have book club today and we will be talking about the book, "Neither Wolf nor Dog" by Kent Nerburn. I found the book absolutely fascinating. I have a hunch that people will either love it or hate it, or a little of both. The author lives in Minnesota and we hope to have him talk at the Art Center next year.

So far I have had a "sit in the recliner" week. Hopefully I will have more oomph as the week goes on. I get a start on my new ears tomorrow. That should be a fascinating experience and hopefully will help me remove the "barrel" feeling from around my head. Yippee skippee.

Take care.

banana

Well, ok. This picture is cute but it arrived here by sheer ineptitude. It has the title banana. I wanted to see it because i couldn't imagine what it was. I clicked on it and it immediately was uploaded to the blog... Good night what a cute boy! And he has the banana game I found for him for Christmas in his hand. It's a letter tile deal that I got over at Cherry Street Books. The tiles are contained in a zip bag that looks like a banana. Thus the title "banana."

It is such a beautiful day after a stormy night. Lots of lightning, thunder, wind and rain. Just the kind of night I love as long as it doesn't get too wild. Much to George's dismay, the garden is getting lots of weeds because he can't get out to weed as it is too muddy.

Fran has all of her stuff in her new digs and now has the fun of getting all organized. I have never known anyone who loves to arrange and rearrange as much as she does! More power to her! Naomi will be back in Minnesota (si Deus quizer) in less than 10 days. The summer is starting to whiz by in its inevitable way. Pay attention to each day. Wow. Take care.

Spring has Sprung

I am looking out my window at two bunnies hopping around in the garden. They are really cute, but now that it is Spring and the plants are up - corn, tomatoes, onions, potatoes on our side and oodles of more exotic plants in our neighbor's plantings - bunnies change from being cute to being menacing. They don't seem to be nibbling the produce, yet, though.

The thrill of green grass is hard to exagerate. After a hard Minnesota winter, spring is a feast to the eyes. Now that I have my new eyes, the greens are even brighter!

Fran and I talked on the phone. She is beginning to become acclimated to her new environs. Her furniture will be arriving on Monday. Not to speak about her fabric collection, books, dvds and tapes, etc., etc. Then she will have the "fun" of setting it all up. Actually, she loves doing that so it should be relatively painless.

Naomi is living through her adventure in Spain. Her knee hasn't blown yet, and she will certainly have a tale to tell us. I hope she is taking plenty of pictures.

I am happy to report that our "It Figures" gym is up and running. How would we exist without our exercising buddies? The exercise is good for us, of course, but the fun is in the socializing. We do have a good time. I will report from time to time on how it is going.

Remember the furor we had about the spiders? Well, we have pretty well put that controversy to rest. We (Freddy) decided that it was phobia that made the spiders so big. At the moment, that is where our research remains. The spiders exercise, too, however, so they may just be waiting to launch an attack in a pumped up version. The mystery may reappear at any moment. (Exit with spooky music.) Take care.